The increasingly outspoken pundit Wayne Rooney has reawakened his ongoing feud with Liverpool centre back Virgil van Dijk, claiming that the Dutch captain is “too involved” in the outside noise surrounding the defending champions while insisting that “there’s something not right” at Anfield.
Rooney and Van Dijk have been locked in an elongated war of words over the past fortnight. The former Manchester United forward played the role of instigator when he questioned the skipper’s leadership qualities on his podcast earlier this season. Van Dijk bit back at that accusation in a postmatch interview before the pair were forced into an awkward face-to-face confrontation.
With the towering Dutchman looming over his shoulder, Rooney joked that he was finished prodding at Liverpool’s captain. That promise didn’t last long.
“From a performance level, from what we’ve seen from Van Dijk, I don’t think he’s been at that level this season,” Rooney claimed on this week.
“I said I’m sure as captain he’d be speaking to players, taking them out for food, which he said he has done. Clearly if he’s felt he’s done that, if he had to do that, there’s something not right.
“As champions, you can’t lose four games in a row. If you lose one game, there’s questions, and if you lose four in a row, there’s something not quite right,” Rooney continued.
Intriguingly, the 40-year-old took issue with the very concept of Van Dijk defending himself.
“I think getting involved too much in the outside noise—that’s our job [as pundits], focus on your game,” Rooney sniffed. “As a younger player, I’d be looking at Van Dijk and how he reacts to this—how is it going to help them? You have to get on with your game and speak internally.”
